Via edible Iowa again, and a very close cousin to my favorite, pork with mustard-port sauce.
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After reading multiple recipes online, I did a "american test kitchen" style experiment (albeit at a smaller scale) and I have nailed the popper... at least, to my taste.
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For the best flavor, make this soup a day in advance.Yields about 24 two-ounce portions.
ingredients
3 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 medium leeks (white and light green parts only), trimmed, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into thin half-moon slices, rinsed thoroughly, and drained
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp. kosher salt; more to taste
1-1/2 lb. celery root (about 1 large)
3/4 cup crème fraîche
1/4 cup heavy cream; more as needed
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh chives
how to make
In a 4-quart or larger heavy-based pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the leeks, onion, and a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft and lightly golden but not brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to low if you see signs of browning.
Meanwhile, peel the celery root with a sharp knife (expect to slice quite a bit off the exterior as you trim). Halve the peeled celery root lengthwise and cut each half into 1-inch-thick wedges. Cut each wedge crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. You should have about 5 cups.
Add the celery root, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 cup water to the leeks. Cover and cook until the celery root is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. (Check occasionally; if all the water cooks off and the vegetables start to brown, add another 1/2 cup water.) Add 4-1/2 cups water, bring to a simmer, and continue to cook another 20 minutes. Let cool slightly.
Purée the soup (with a hand blender, or in small batches in a stand blender) to a very smooth, creamy consistency. Let cool completely and then store in the refrigerator at least overnight or for up to two days.
About an hour before serving, put the crème fraîche in a small bowl and stir in enough of the heavy cream so that the mixture reaches the consistency of yogurt. Leave the cream mixture at room temperature until you are ready to serve the soup. (If the cream is too cold, it will cool the soup.)
Reheat the soup. (If it’s too thick, gradually thin it with as much as 1 cup water.) Taste and add more salt as needed. Ladle the soup into small espresso cups or shot glasses. Top each portion with a small spoonful of crème fraîche (it should float on top of the soup). Finish each cup with a pinch of black pepper and a sprinkle of chives.
From Fine Cooking 75, pp. 53
Posted by christina at 08:02 AM | Comments (0)A Soothing Soup, Ready in Minutes
by Joanne Smart
Whenever I feel a cold coming on, I turn to this satisfying soup. I figure that with its ample garlic, chicken broth, tomatoes, and spinach, plus its soothing heat, it must be doing something to make me feel better. But even when I’m not sick, I still enjoy this soup. Served with a crusty piece of bread, it makes a delicious lunch or dinner, and it’s incredibly easy to-make.MORE...If you have some of your own stock handy, so much the better. But because you’re adding a lot of flavorful garlic, tomatoes, and fragrant basil to the soup, store-bought broth (preferably low-salt) works fine. I often use the broths packaged in resealable boxes, which taste fresher to me than canned broth. For this soup, boxed broth is especially handy because it comes in one-quart packages. For the canned tomatoes, I prefer organic brands, some of which offer the convenience of being already diced. Spinach can be time-consuming to prep, but once again you can turn to a convenience item—already washed baby spinach—without much of a loss of flavor (although you do pay a premium for it). Both fresh and frozen tortellini work in this soup, the former taking less time to cook.
Once you have your ingredients handy, it’s just a matter of throwing everything into the pot with a little time between additions. I like to sauté the garlic in the butter until it’s quite fragrant and just on the verge of turning golden brown. Next I pour in the broth and bring it to a boil. I start the tortellini in the broth and cook them until they’re a little more than halfway done before adding the tomatoes and turning the soup down to a simmer. Just when the pasta is done, I add handfuls of spinach and a few basil leaves and cook until these are just wilted, which takes only about a minute. Serve the soup hot with some grated Parmesan cheese. I guarantee you’ll feel better, even if you weren’t sick to start with.
From Fine Cooking 47, pp. 98
Buttercup Squash & Leek Soup with Herb Butter
by Michael Brisson
I love the earthy flavor of buttercup squash, but you can substitute butternut. Note: Reserve the extra herb butter separately for the turkey. Yields 12 cups.MORE...
Good as a snack, or as an ingredient in a stuffing or salad.
Yields 4 cups.
I have plumbed the internet, and found two recipes, neither of which reflects the fantastic and odd creation I made this morning for our breakfast, loosely based on a recipe from a Paris cooking school I attended last year. This was good enough to remind myself what worked, and what I'd change.
Philippe also loved it, and suggested it could be dinner or an appetizer.
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Oeufs en Meurette at Epicurious.com
Sauce meurette is one of the grand classics of French country cooking, a dark concentrated essence of red wine, stock, and vegetables. You would expect it to be paired with the equally powerful flavors of meat or poultry, but no — meurette is unique in accompanying fish, or poached eggs, as here. For extra flavor, I like to poach the eggs in the wine, which is then used for the sauce; they emerge an odd purple hue, but this is later concealed by the glossy brown sauce. For poaching, it's well worth looking for farm-fresh eggs as they hold their shape better than store-bought eggs.MORE...Oeufs en meurette is a favorite restaurant dish, not least because it can be prepared ahead and assembled to order. However, most regrettably, it is not a dish to make in a hurry. All the elements can be prepared in advance, but the full glory of oeufs en meurette is ruined by trying to cut corners.
Wine for Cooking For six months in the year, we live in northern Burgundy, where the local pinot noirs are inexpensive and appropriately light for this dish. Equally good for meurette would be a pinot from the northern end of Oregon's Willamette Valley. Avoid the "blockbuster" type of heavy pinots that come from the hotter climes of California and Australia.
Wine to Drink To do justice to the richly flavored sauce, let's move up to something grander. A premier cru red from one of the villages in Burgundy's Côte de Beaune would do nicely, as would one of the more refined pinots from California's Carneros district.
via chocolateandzucchini.com
She tells a sweet story of a childhood recipe forgotten...
Until last week, that is, when I bought a package of Boursin -- a soft garlic and herb cheese -- the lid of which offered a simple recipe for oeuf cocotte, baked in the oven. And that's what we had for dinner the other day, to deliciously simple and satisfying results. /blockquote> MORE...
Posted by christina at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)
This is definitely a "must try" for the next time my sister comes by. Or even before, as Philippe loves lentils.
Vegetarian Lentil Burgers Recipe
September 9, 2007 | by Heidi of 101 cookbooks
For those of you who are fans of the chickpea-based veggie burger I did in Super Natural Cooking, you might want to try this vegetarian lentil burger recipe - it's a twist on the one from my book. This version is a tasty, hearty lentil "burger" slathered with saffron yogurt and stuffed with avocado, lettuce, and onions. As I mentioned in SNC I finally figured out how to make a veggie burger that I actually enjoy - but it took an ah-ha moment for me to get there.I've always felt that when you put a veggie burger patty on a bun you end up with a burger experience that is too dry and bready. It finally dawned on me to turn the patty into the bun by splitting it in half and then stuffing that with all sorts of deliciousness - avocados, greens, tomatoes, onions, spreads, whatever. This lentil burger uses the same approach.
I'd bet caramelized onions would add another dimension of depth and flavor either on (or in) these, if you have a bit of extra time on your hands. How about chopped cilantro? Or a bit of crumbled goat cheese, you all know I like lemon zest in just about everything, or chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chives, finely chopped walnuts, a bit of corn....not all at once of course, but feel free to spike the lentil mix with a few extras if you are feeling adventurous.
Party option: Do round, ultra-mini patties and serve them with a selection of dips, use double-pronged toothpicks for easy dipping. There is a garlic, cilantro yogurt dip in my book that would be delicious, also the red pepper and walnut-based muhammara featured here.
The saffron yogurt that I mentioned up above is one of my favorite condiments lately. I came home from the CIA Worlds of Flavor: Spain conference late last year with a drawer full of saffron and saffron spice blends, so I've been using it in all sorts of ways. I particularly like saffron yogurt with black lentils and use this combination in various ways in my day-to-day cooking. To make the saffron yogurt place a tablespoon of scalding hot (or boiling) water in a cup, add a tiny pinch of saffron threads to the hot water (about 10 threads). Wait about five minutes, then stir in about a 1/2 cup of plain yogurt. Fage 2% Greek yogurt is thicker and a good consistency for a burger spread if you can find it....the vibrant yellow color is stunning, and I never cease to be delighted by it. A dollop of this can transform a plate.
http://www.gumbopages.com/food/breakfast/eggs-sardou.html
This is one of New Orleans' grand egg dishes, created, as were so many classic dishes, at Antoine's Restaurant.
This soup we ate everywhere in the Yucatan, and it was often a little different but the basic flavors of intense chicken broth and lime were always present.
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